The Destroying of the Horcruxes
by Manhttngal43
Summary: Harry, Ron and Hermione return after a long year, bring news of Voldemorts defeat. After all that they've gone through though, Harry can't seem to escape the haunting past.
1. The Return

This is my version of the Horcruxes. It is probably WAY off, but what's wrong with dreaming?

RM

DISCLAIMER: I (sadly) do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. Do you think I can write as great as JKR?

Harry timidly approached the burrow. Beside him stood Ron and Hermione, as they always had. Harry reflected on all that had happened that year. They had gone through a lot together, and they had changed even more. They were amore serious bunch now, quieter. Their innocence was gone. All three paused as they reached the door.

"Ready?'

Harry and Hermione nodded and Ron knocked on the door. They heard Mrs. Weasley rise from her knitting and walk through the kitchen towards the front door. She swung it open, and stared in shock and disbelief at the three of them. Then after a moment, she suddenly drew all of them into a great hug and pulled them into the house, sobbing.

"Ron! Oh my goodness! I can't believe it's really you! And Harry and dear Hermione, you can't believe how worried I've been about you!"

Just then Fleur entered the kitchen.

"Vat is all zee commotion about? Eet soundz as eef…" her sentence drifted off into nothingness as she caught sight of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Eez zees posseeble? You are back! Zees eez unbelievable! I vill run upstairs and tell Bill zat you are here!" With that said, she disapperated from the room.

"Bill's here?" inquired Ron.

"Yes," answered Mrs. Weasley, drying her eyes and regaining some of her composer. "He and Fleur are visiting. And Ginny is here too." They were interrupted by the sound of footsteps as Bill and Ginny thundered down the stairs. Ginny, upon catching sight of them, shrieked and ran to hug them. When she reached Harry, she shyly looked up at him and kissed him for the first time in a very long while. Bill came next, giving each of them a great hug. Harry got right to business.

"When's the next order meeting?" he inquired.

"Tonight actually" answered Bill. "Why do you ask?"

"I think it's time I let everyone know what we've be up to."

Bill nodded. "What_ have_ you been up to?" he asked.

"You know," responded Ron with raised eyebrows, "saving the world, the usual. What's the order been doing?" he asked curiously.

"Same as always. Trying to keep one step ahead of the death eaters. And keeping tabs on you guys."

"You've been following us?" Harry said a little too quickly.

"Trying to, anyway," answered Bill with a curious expression. "You kept shaking us off. You even hexed Tonks that one time."

"Oh yeah. Sorry about that," apologized Harry with a guilty expression on his face. "Couldn't have her following us."

"You hexed Tonks?" inquired Ginny incredulously.

Their conversation was interrupted as Mrs. Weasley entered with a plate of steaming hot food and ordered them all to the table. As Harry and Hermione sat down, Ron voiced exactly what they were thinking.

"Wow! I haven't seen this much food since in left in the summer!"

"Er…" Ginny informed him uncertainly, "it really isn't so much food. What have you guys been eating?"

"Bread and crackers mostly and sometimes some soup."

"Zat eez eet?" cried Fleur in disbelief. "You must eat! 'ere 'ave some more!" She piled food onto their plate.

Harry put out a hand to stop her.

"No thanks. I'm not so hungry," he lied. He was hungry, but he didn't have much of an appetite."

"Harry, you must eat something!" interjected Mrs. Weasley. "Bread and crackers?" she said in horror.

"No really. I'm much too tired." He fibbed, faking a yawn. "I think I'd fancy a nap." He left to Ron's room.

Ginny waited till he left and said, "He is the worst liar ever."

"Give the guy a break, Ginny," Ron intervened. "He's been through a lot."

"What exactly is 'a lot'? You were there weren't you?" she questioned curiously.

"Not the whole time," countered Ron. "Sometimes it was just Harry. He never told me exactly what happened that night. Didn't want to talk about it. I didn't push it, figuring he'd tell us eventually. So, I guess tonight is the night we find out."

"Somehow I get the feeling it's not going to be one of those fairy tale type things," observed Hermione, still staring at the doorway through which Harry had disappeared.

"Well," Bill said, "we'll find out everything tonight."

Review! Review! Please Review!

Need to be criticized, you know?

RM


	2. The Truth Comes Out

Harry looked around at the expectant faces. The order meeting had been called. Bill had announced that he had returned, upon which Lupin almost had a heart attack.

Now Harry stood before them, about to begin his tale. He searched for a good place to begin, wondering how he was going to have the courage to finish. He took a deep breath, and began.

"My story begins a year and a half ago. At that time Dumbledore revealed to me the only way to completely destroy Lord Voldemort. He revealed to me that Voldemort had been using Horcruxes to make himself almost immortal. The biggest problem was that there was not just one Horcrux. No, Voldemort had created seven of them. In order to destroy Voldemort, we had to kill him seven times. That is where Dumbledore and I went the night- the night he died. The search and destruction is a fascinating story in itself, but not for now. Perhaps I will tell you later. What I need to tell you about now takes place after the three of us barley making it alive, had already destroyed the last of the Horcruxes. Now came the most terrifying part of the journey: killing Voldemort himself. We learned that he was stationed where he was the first time I met him, the Riddle house. We went there. I made sure I could be seen entering so that he would come outside. Indeed he did, followed closely by Snape and Wormtail, the two people I hated most, aside form him. They faced Ron and Hermione, and I faced Voldemort.

He said to me mockingly, 'You are more courageous than I thought, Harry. I did not expect you to come here voluntarily and thought I might have to brew some scheme to make you come here so I can kill you. I must thank you; you've made it so much easier. I never did give you much credit for your brains though. A wise person would prolong his life as much as possible. Had you not come today, you may have lived another year.' He gave one of his high pitched laughs. I did not respond, just looked into his eyes and raised my wand. He was too quick for me though, and had me under the imperious curse. He tried to humiliate me, but I resisted. Surprising him, I did the Cruciatus Curse on him. He fell back, screaming in a pain no one ever deserves to feel. But he deserved it, and so I stood watching him scream, knowing I was the one causing it. I disarmed him next. There was the dark lord, without a wand, facing his final doom. Of course, he didn't know that these were his last moments. He looked at me, smiling.

'You may kill me now, Potter,' he said, 'but the Dark Lord is invincible. I will return, make no mistake about that. Face it Potter, you cannot win against me!'

I told him, 'I already have. It's over Tom. The Horcruxes are gone. I've destroyed them.' I saw panic flicker in his eyes before I killed him. As his body fell, Snape gave a cry and lunged for me. I killed him to. I looked past the two bodies and saw Ron and Hermione lying unconscious on the ground. Wormtail cowered in the shadows. I advanced on him, and he fell on my robes, begging for his life. I stared down at him, thinking of all the pain he had caused me. Everything that happened, every death, was all his responsibility once you broke it down. Every one I cared about who was dead, Dumbledore, Sirius, my parents, even Cedric Diggory, it was all his fault." At this point Harry had to pause to keep his composure. This was the hardest part of the tale for him to tell. "And there he was, a coward begging for his life. I knew he didn't deserve to live. I knew I had to kill him, but his pleas shook me. I couldn't kill him, but I knew I also couldn't leave him alive. Shaking, I raised my wand. He yelled in desperation, 'James would have had mercy on me! He would want you to also!' That did it. I yelled in total rage 'I'm not James! You killed him, so now he cannot be here to save you!' And then I killed him." Harry, crying now sat down hard. It was over now, it was out. Lupin, in shock, put a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Harry…" he said. "Harry."


	3. The First Horcrux

Thanks for reading! Reviews are wanted! Please, please, please review!

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters… etc.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3: The first Horcrux

Lupin stared at Harry, trying to digest all that he had said. He realized that he was the last of his four friends alive. James, Sirius and Peter were all gone. He was alone. But more important was the fact that Voldemort was completely defeated.

"Now what happens" asked Tonks. "Our job is done here. He's dead."

"No," countered Bill, "the Death Eaters are still out there. No doubt they are angry. If you ask me, Harry is still in grave danger. He killed their leader."

"Well, he must leave here," Lupin spoke up. "The Burrow isn't safe. We should go to headquarters. It's unplottable."

"No!" Harry protested. "I'm not going in to hiding!"

"But Harry-"

"I remember how Sirius hated being cooped up. That won't happen to me. No thanks! I'd rather die. My life isn't as valuable now that Voldemort is dead. I can fight them anyway. You know I can duel, professor." Seeing their unconvinced faces, he continued on in desperation. "I've fought and killed Voldemort seven bloody times! You think I can't handle his followers? I'm staying right here. This is my place."

"Harry, if you stay here you put all the Weasleys in danger."

Harry gave some thought to that matter. It wouldn't be fair for him to do that, not after all they had done for him.

"All right," he decided. "I'll go to the Black house. But only as a place to sleep and have my meals. I'm not going to be hiding out."

"Deal," said Lupin.

"Oh really, Remus. That isn't necessary. Harry can stay here if he'd like," Molly said. "We can make it just as safe here as at the black house. We can make it unplottable, and you can be our secret keeper."

"That is an idea, I suppose," Lupin mused. "Yes, why not? I'm sure everybody would be happier. What does the Order think?" He turned to them, and they nodded. Harry smiled. He was going to stay.

Later, as he lay in bed, he found it difficult to fall asleep. Memories of that night in Borgin and Burkes kept coming back to him. He didn't want to think about it, not now. Finally he felt himself drifting off to sleep, but this unconscious state did not provide the safety Harry had hoped for.

_They entered the shop under the cover of night, the hoods of their cloaks pulled up to shield their faces. Harry, Ron, and Hermione crept silently to the back of the store. There they found a small room. Voldemort's room, where he had lived when he worked there. It was a small room, with a bed and a simple wooden dresser. Harry felt around the room until he heard what he wanted to hear. _Squeak. _Harry pushed on the squeaky wall panel. It swung forward, revealing a small metal lever. He pulled. In the middle of the room, four floorboards opened up, leaving a small hole. Harry looked at His friends with an expression that said, let's do it. They both nodded and Harry lowered himself into the hole, until he found a notch for his foot and discovered a ladder leading down. He started climbing, Ron and Hermione following right above him. They climbed down, down; the darkness so thick Harry couldn't see his own hands in front of him. Down, down. _Will we ever reach the bottom? _Harry thought. Down, down. Rung after rung after rung, through utter blackness. Finally, Harry's feet met hard ground. He proceeded forward, his hands held in front of him, feeling in the darkness like a blind man. His hands met a wall. He turned, and met another wall, and another. _

"_This can't be," he said to his friends. "There is nowhere to go from here."_

"_That's not possible," cried Ron in frustration. "Why would there be that hole and the ladder if all it led to was some dark pit?"_

"_I don't know," Harry said. "Maybe it's a false. Maybe it's a sort of decoy."_

_Hermione, who hand been muttering spells at the wall in an attempt to open it, pronounced it futile. "It can't be a decoy Ronald," she sighed at her friend's arrogance. "If it were, Voldemort would have made it so that the moment the person entered, he wouldn't be able to be let out. He wouldn't let a person who was trying to kill him and worse, knew about the Horcruxes, come out alive!"_

_Ron contemplated this and could find nothing to argue with. "So what's going on?' he challenged. _

_Hermione answered the one thing that hardly came out of her mouth. "I don't know."_

"_I do."_

_Harry, remembering something about the last Horcrux, spoke up. "You have to give blood."_

"_Blood?" questioned Hermione, horrified._

"_I remember now, Harry!" Ron's eyes lit up in realization. "Last year you told us how Dumbledore had to cut himself and rub the blood on the walls."_

"_There must be some other way," Hermione protested, feeling a bit queasy. _

"_There is none." Harry pulled out a dagger from his robes and, with Hermione covering her eyes, cut himself on the arm. He sucked in air to keep from screaming. He held his arm against the wall and let the oozing blood drip down onto it. Slowly the walls began to move. They swung back revealing… nothing. Utter blackness._

_The threesome proceeded, there hands held in front of them. They came to a dead end. They turned and kept walking. They hit another dead end and turned. It didn't take long for them to realize…_

"_We're in a maze!" Hermione voiced what they all had noticed. The three of them kept walking, feeling their way through the maze in the utter blackness. Finally…the darkness softened as they exited the maze. There in front of them stood a dead body. Not exactly dead though._

"_Inferi!" gasped Hermione. Harry looked around and saw that she was right. Many of the dead bodies that Voldemort was using as puppets stood blocking their way. Behind the large army of the living-dead, a bright red light shone through. That was, without a doubt, the Horcrux. Remembering the wise words of his old head master, Harry muttered "_Lumus_!" and a dim light burned on the tip of his wand. The Inferius nearest to him shielded himself from the light. But the rest stood still._

"_Oh Harry!" sighed an aggravated Hermione. "You can't stop them with that. It's not long enough! _Lumus Holem_!" Light as bright as sunlight burst from her wand. The Inferi cringed. Ron repeated the spell and the same sunlight spilled from his wand._

"_Harry! We'll hold them off! Get to the Horcrux!"_

_Harry nodded and made his way through the mass of bodies. As he walked, he realized how far the Horcrux was, and wandered if the light would be able to reach all the way. Suddenly a hand grabbed his wrist. He struggled, only to feel more hands grabbing him and restraining him. He looked up. The Inferi were closing in on him. There were so many of them! They were upon him now… his arms were released suddenly and he fell to the floor. Light blinded him and obviously the Inferi too. Unable to see, Harry ran forward. He was able to glimpse it now. Hufflepuff's cup lay straight ahead… he was almost there… his hands were around it now…_

Harry awoke, covered in sweat, panting. Even with his eyes open he was still able to see the dead bodies, their eyes blank. Daylight peaked through the shades in Ron's room. He could here voices downstairs, laughter. _Everyone else must be awake by now, _he thought . Harry waited until his breathing went back to normal, then went downstairs to join the Weasleys.

_Well, that's all for this chapter. Please, input wanted. Review! Review!_

_RM_


	4. The Farewell

Hey!Sorry it took so long to update. I just graduated though so I should have more time!

I hope this chapter is better then the first. PLEASE read and review, even if you don't have anything nice to say, constructive criticism is wanted!

I'm trying to get a lot of reviews!

RMG

**Disclaimer**: Raise your hand if you think I own Harry Potter.

* * *

Downstairs Molly was making some fantastic smelling pancakes. She was humming cheerfully to herself, but stopped when she saw Harry.

"Harry! Are you okay? You're so pale!" She tenderly put her hands on his cheeks.

"I'm fine Mrs. Weasley!" he muttered and then, at the look on her face, added, "Honestly. It was just a bad dream."

"Very well." Mrs. Weasley sighed. "But you must have some breakfast! You haven't eaten properly in months!" And she proceeded to pile a stack of pancakes onto his plate, but Harry wasn't very hungry.

After forcing down half a pancake, Harry gave up on trying to be polite and excused himself from the table. He went back upstairs to Ron's room, where he flung himself onto his bed and lay there.

* * *

Harrydidn't know what to do with himself these days. Life had almost gone back to normal, but he, Harry, would never return to normal. Not after all that had happened. No, Harry had been forced to grow up to early. To be serious while he should have still been joking around and having fun. Harry had missed his childhood. He was made to become a man while his peers were still children. There was no laughter left in Harry's eyes. It was replaced by sadness, seriousness, knowledge. Harry had witnessed to much evil for one life. Now every small thing that gave joy seemed trivial, foolish. Harry couldn't bring himself to join the Weasleys in their games and jokes. He was living in a world that wasn't made for him. He couldn't stay with the Weasleys. As much as he had wanted to stay the other night, he knew he had to leave, and start his own life.

He was ready.

* * *

Ronald Weasley couldn't help but notice Harry's sulky matter. Actually, he could understand his best mates moodiness. He had been through a lot, much, much more than either he or Hermione. And he had lost more people. Sirius, Dumbledore. Sure, Ron had been shocked when Dumbledore had died a year ago. But no one had been close to him like Harry, who was devastated. Then, just this past year their had been deaths. Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottem, whose deaths Ron knew, Harry blamed himself for. The list was getting too long, and Harry was stabbed every time it lengthened.

These days he was hiding himself up in the room all day, making up measly excuses like a headache, to aviod joining them in there game. Ginny was being hurt every time Harry snubbed them and Ron couldn't bear it. Sure, a little "alone" time was good, but Harry couldn't sulk forever. Ron had written to Hermione, who had gone home a feww days ago, but there wasn't much she could do when she wasn' t there. So Ron had decided to go talk to him.

Once outside his room, Ron knocked on the door. No answer. He knocked again. No answer. Ron opened his bedroom door and stepped inside. Harry was lying on the bed, pretending to be asleep.

'You can open your eyes now, it's only me."

Harry's eyes fluttered opened. "What?"

"This has to stop mate. All the sulking. I mean, I completely understand and I don't blame you or anything, but enough is enough. This isn't healthy anymore. You may not realize it, but life can go back to normal. What's done is done, and now you've got to put it behind you, move on. You need to get back on your feet."

And for once, to Ron's surprise, Harry didn't argue

"You're right, and I know. Which is why I've decided to leave."

This wasn't exactly the response Ron was expecting.

"What? Why?"

"Because, like you said, I can't mope around forever. I've got to get back on my feet. But I've also realized that I can't do that here. This place holds too many connections to the past, too many memories. So, I'm going to find myself a job, rent a small flat, and move on."

"You're leaving?" Ron said, incredulous.

"Just leaving the burrow. Don't worry I'll still be around. But I'm finished with school, so it's time to take the next step."

"What about Ginny?"

"I'm not disappearing off of the face of the planet! I'm still going to see her."

Ron thought a minute. Harry seemed to have his mind made up.

"All right then. Good luck."

Harry embraced Ron in a manly hug and turned to the singletrunk Ron now noticed on the floor. Harry flicked his wand and thetrunk floated above their heads. Ron watched the trunk hover above them, and realized that all of Harry's pocessions were contained within that small space.The small space that he carried with him to whever he stayed. He didn't have a house where he could just leave them. Harry's right, Ron thought. He needs to finally have a place of his own.

"I'll go say good bye now."

* * *

"Harry, you can't leave now! It isn't safe yet!"

"This is what I need to do Mrs. Weasley! Besides, almost all the Death Eaters have been rounded up by now. I've already sent an owl to Lupin, so he knows where I am. Thank you Mrs. Weasley, I appreciate all you've done, I really do, but I've got to go now."

" Okay, I suppose you're right," sniffed Mrs. Weasley. "But do be careful dear, and don't do anything foolish."

"Mum," muttered Ron, "don't worry. He'll be fine."

Harry turned to walk out the door, when Ginny came down. She ran to Harry, and together they walked outside. A long while later, Ginny came back without Harry, looking a bit downtrodden.

"He's left," was all she said.

* * *

REVIEW! 


	5. New begining

On a whim, i have decided that this will be the last chapter. Read and Review!

Harry stood in the archway leading to Diagon Alley. Since Voldemort's death, it had started coming back to life. Shops were reopened, Ollivander returned from the influence of the Imperius Curse. The street was as crowded as ever, and a new energy gripped the air. Actually, a new energy had gripped the entire wizarding community. People were nicer, friendlier. Complete strangers stopped in the middle of the street to help each other. As Harry walked down the Alley, past windows now free of the Ministry's purple-lettered safety posters, he smiled - something he hadn't done in along time. People were finally starting to get it right. Well, he thought to himself, at least I accomplished _something_ good. People were wishing each other "good day" left and right. As he turned to smile at a family of witches passing by, he knocked into a small, skinny wizard.

"Sorry sir," he apologized, picking himself up and offering a hand to the other wizard.

"Nothing to be sorry about, dear boy!" he said cheerfully. " No harm done!" Standing now, he stretched out his hand. "Dan Moonwolf," he introduced himself.

Harry groaned inwardly. He knew what was to inevitably follow.

"Harry Potter," he said, taking Dan's hand.

Dan's eyes widened in shock.

"H-Harry P-Potter?" He took off his hat and sank into a small bow. "An honor, Mr. Potter, a rare and true honor!" An emabarrased Harry nodded to the man and turned to go, only to find the whole street full of people staring at him. All of a sudden, they started to clap. One by one, the people on the street put their hands together and applauded. This was to much for Harry, who pushed his way back to the brick archway and ducked into the Leaky Cauldron.

Sept. 12

Dear Ron and Hermione,

I have found myself a comfortable job as an assistant at Flourish and Blotts. The manager is a nice man, who provides me with room and board. I cannot go across the street for an ice cream without being bowed to and applauded, and you both know how much I hate that. But, I guess it's time I come to terms with the fact that I'm always going to stand out. Hopefully, after life returns to normal, people willl start to calm down and I won't be as legendary as I am now.I still consider becoming an Auror sometimes, but I suppose the thrill will be gone and it'll be rather boring now that even Bellatrix Lestrange has been caught. (Yes, I read it in the newspaper and had myself a little celebration.) However, until I figure out what I'm going to do, I have been assured a spot right here. You know, teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts sounds appealing. I don't mean to sound arrogant or anything, but I think I am in a great position to teach it. I just hope that now that Voldemort's gone I the job is no longer jinxed. But enough about that. How are you guys? I miss you. This might not make any sense, but with all this popularity and attention, it's gets kind of lonely.

I heard about Lupin and Tonks engagement and I'm so happy for them. I guess I'll be seeing you at the wedding. Or before that even. You know I'm not hiding or anything. You _could_ come visit m if it's not too much trouble. Anyway, Ron, say hello to your family for me.

Love,

Harry

A/N: I think this a good time to end it. It's going to start to stink ofI don't.Hoped you enjoyed it! Reveiws still wanted! I'm working on a new story, but since I want most of it prewritten beforeI publish it, it could take awhile.Check up for it.


End file.
